Histopathological examination of the effectiveness of nonvascularized tibia and femur bone allografts on bone healing in rat tibia fractures

Abstract

The aim of this study was to histologically evaluate the healing processes of tibia fractures reconstructed with allogeneic bone grafts taken from different anatomical regions (tibia and femur). Twenty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were used in the study. The rats were divided into four groups: fracture control (n = 7), tibia allogeneic bone transplant (n = 7), femur allogeneic bone transplant (n = 7), and donor group (n = 4). Corticocancellous bone blocks (5 & times;5 mm) taken from the donor animals were fixed to the fracture sites created in the tibias of recipient rats with Kirschner wires. At the end of the 4-week healing period, the rats were sacrificed, and the tibias were examined histologically. Tissue samples were fixed in 10 % neutral formalin and decalcified, then embedded in paraffin and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The new bone formation rate was assessed histomorphometrically and analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Callus formation was observed at the fracture line in all groups. Callus tissue was more uniform and new bone formation was more dense in the tibia and femur allogeneic transplant groups. The highest new bone formation was observed in the tibia and femur allogeneic bone transplant group when compared with controls (P < 0,05 P = 0.002). Non vascular allogeneic bone transplantation; tibia and femur derived grafts, was found to significantly increase fracture healing compared to the control group. It was concluded that the use of allogeneic bone obtained from different anatomic sites may be an effective and biocompatible option for bone regeneration.